


So Come On

by Chash



Series: No Distance That Could Hold Us Back [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 17:10:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11651040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: Of course, Bellamy can't help fretting a little about Clarke moving in with him. He wants her to, of course, but he frets at a semi-professional level.At the end of the day, he's still mostly just happy.





	So Come On

**Author's Note:**

> When I was asking for anniversary timestamp prompts, I got a request for moving day for this universe, and I realized I wasn't actually going to be able to write that until my girlfriend and I were also living together.
> 
> Which we now are, so let's wrap this one up.

Given how long Bellamy has been wanting Clarke to move in with him, it feels weird to be nervous about it. And that nervousness makes him _more_ nervous, creating this bizarre cycle of guilt _about_ being guilty. Which is one of those things that feels so ridiculous he never wants to bring it up.

So he's really glad when Clarke does it for him.

"Is it weird that I'm nervous?"

They're on their nightly video call, Clarke's slightly pixelated face frowning at him in real time from across the country. She was interning at a museum as part of her grad program, and they asked if she'd stay on for a couple months in an interim position while someone was on maternity leave. It was the kind of thing that, when it happened, Bellamy _also_ couldn't help feeling anxious about. It wasn't that he thought they'd break up, just that it might lead to a longer position, which she should have taken, if they offered. He would have supported her taking it. A job is a job, after all, and she liked the place.

But she got a job _here_ , in Boston, with him, and she's got a start date, and she's going to move.

And it's still kind of terrifying.

"Jesus, no," he says, the words bursting out of him like air out of an overfull tire. "I'm so fucking nervous."

Clarke laughs. "How long have you been holding that one in?"

"I've been nervous about this forever," he points out. "And it's not like I'm not excited."

"No, I know." Her smile is warm. "I've never moved just for a relationship before. It still feels like I'm failing as a feminist or something."

"Yeah. You've got a job," he points out. "If we crash and burn, you'll still have other stuff going on. You know Octavia--"

She's laughing again. "So, that's what you're worrying about? Our potential breakup?"

"Well, I know you're a pretty decent feminist, so--" He shrugs. "I don't want to ruin your life."

"If we crash and burn, I think your sister probably won't like me anymore," she teases.

"That makes me feel so much better." But it does, really. "She probably would. Unless you break my heart for no good reason, and then I won't care that you're in bad shape."

"So, if we break up, I should be a total asshole about it, so you don't have to feel bad."

"That would be the considerate thing, yeah." He rubs his face. "Fuck. It's just--it's a lot. And I can't wait, but--"

"But what if it's not like we thought," she supplies, voice soft.

"Maybe we can't live together."

"Yeah. I'm not really _worried_ ," she says. "But I feel like I should be worrying. And it's just--"

"It's a big deal," he says. 

"It's a big deal."

"I think I'm probably happier being nervous," he admits. "If I was excited, I'd start second-guessing it. Get my hopes way too high about how amazing it's going to be to have you living here."

She smiles, and his heart feels too big for his chest, which has been happening a lot. When he's not feeling nervous about Clarke coming to live with him, or feeling nervous that he feels nervous, or nervous that he feels nervous that he feels nervous, and so on, he really _is_ fucking thrilled. 

"It still doesn't feel real to me," she admits. "I don't know how to think about it."

"Yeah, we're a lot better at worrying," he teases. But of course, he knows exactly what she means. He's lived with Octavia, but never with a romantic partner, and it would be hard enough to wrap his head around even if they weren't long-distance. 

As it is, the idea of Clarke being in his life _every day_ is somehow, simultaneously, everything he wants and completely unfathomable.

"So, focus on the downsides."

She laughs. "That's exactly what I was thinking, yeah."

"I can't wait for you to live here," he admits, voice soft.

"Yeah," she agrees. "Neither can I."

*

Talking to Clarke helps, as it always does, but mostly in the sense that he knows they're on the same page. It's not a surprise, but he can't help feeling like his own insecurities are less valid, because Clarke is the one who's packing up and moving to be with him. Plenty of her grad-school friends are staying in the area, and she could stay there with them, have friends and a safety net and a life of her own. But she's coming to him, in an unknown city. He should only be thrilled.

So her validation is nice, and it reminds him that one of his favorite things about dating Clarke is that he doesn't worry about telling her how he's feeling, even when it's embarrassing or feels illegitimate.

**Me** : You know what's weird?

**Clarke** : you probably need to narrow that down  
I have a lot of ideas

**Me** : I keep forgetting you're going to live here  
Or not that  
I know you'll be here, but not that you're going to LIVE here  
Someone asks if I'm free the weekend after you move, and I'll think I'm not, because you'll be here  
But you'll live here, so it's not like I have to cherish every moment

**Clarke** : oh good  
I'm glad you're going to stop cherishing me as soon as I move there  
can't wait

**Me** : Yeah, that's how it works  
It was all about the thrill of the chase

**Clarke** : I knew it  
who was asking if you had plans?

**Me** : Miller and Monty are doing some one-day online gaming thing the weekend after you move in  
I assume you're invited but don't want to be involved

**Clarke** : safe assumption  
but you can do it  
I'll just sit on the couch and make fun of you

**Me** : That's what I figured  
It's just so weird that you're going to do that  
You'll be around for everything

**Clarke** : I might go shopping or something  
maybe I'll have my own friends

**Me** : Don't get carried away  
Making friends in just a week?

**Clarke** : grocery shopping in a week seems doable

**Me** : No way I'm letting you shop alone after just a week  
You need to learn the basics of cooking for yourself first  
It's a process

**Clarke** : I want to make fun of you for that  
but I'm actually really excited for all that stuff  
we're going to get groceries together  
and cook meals  
and clean the bathroom

As it happens, Bellamy was at the store when he texted her, and he switches to the camera so he can send her a picture of the cereal aisle. He's not much of a photographer, but he thinks it gets the idea across.

**Me** : Wish you were here

**Clarke** : two weeks  
I'll be there in no time  
fuck, I have so much packing to do

**Me** : Sucks to be you  
But really  
I can't fucking wait

*

"You seem normal," Octavia tells him, by way of greeting.

"Yeah, I try really hard. Glad I'm passing."

"I thought you'd be obsessively scrubbing your entire house clean so that it'll be ready for Clarke."

"That's the thing about cleaning," he says. "If you just do it regularly, you don't have to panic when people come to visit because it already looks okay. You should try it sometime."

"I'm serious."

"So I am. I tried to teach you."

"Are you good?"

"My girlfriend's moving in with me, that's good news. Am I supposed to be upset?"

"It's a big change," she says, sounding actually _concerned_ , so Bellamy straightens up, gives her his proper attention.

"I'm kind of used to it by now," he says. "Not--it's a huge deal, and it's honestly kind of overwhelming, yeah. But it's such a big deal it's hard to think about, so my brain kind of shuts down." He considers. "It probably helps that I'm working again."

Nyko somehow talked him into helping supervise some of the summer clubs that meet at the school, probably just by virtue of lucky timing. He'd been anxious about Clarke's temp position, so when Nyko needed someone, he'd been happy to have the distraction. He would have taken anything.

And he's still largely happy he's doing it. The distraction is still helping, even if it's distracting him from good news.

"So you're so terrified that your girlfriend is moving in with you, your brain refuses to process it?"

"It's not _terror_ ," he grumbles. "It's just a lot. Like getting married. I know you couldn't think about that either."

"Yeah, okay. Are you getting married?"

"Not any time soon. Let's see how moving in goes first."

"But you're good. Happy. Not--you seem good."

"It's still _good news_ ," he grumbles. "It's a big change, but--you weren't nervous when Lincoln came home."

"I was, a little," she admits, drumming her fingers on the table. "He'd been gone for a long time. I thought it might be different, when he got back. And you always worry about things like fifty times more than I do--"

He laughs. "Shut up. I am--of course I've got a list of a hundred things that could go wrong. But I've got way more that could go right, so--I'm just really fucking excited, okay? We've got _plans_ , O. She got tickets for an art opening thing. Because she's just going to _live here_. We're going to do things together. Have _culture_. We'll be too good for you in no time."

It's probably the most words he's said to anyone but Clarke about his feelings on the whole thing, and it's still a little embarrassing. Everyone else just assumes he's happy, which is easy for him. Octavia's the only one making him justify it.

But that's enough for her, and she smiles. "I'm really happy for you guys."

"Thanks," he says. "But don't worry. If it goes horribly wrong, you'll be the first person I tell."

"That's all I ask, yeah."

*

Raven volunteered to help Clarke out with the move, because she has a car, loves to drive, and considers herself their kind of weird fairy godmother, after her initial meeting with Bellamy in Flour. From what he can tell, he and Raven actually had pretty similar childhoods, city kids whose families relied on public transportation and never got their licenses, but while Bellamy stubbornly refuses to learn how to drive, Raven embraced it. 

For which he's grateful, now; he would worry himself to death if Clarke was driving down alone, and it would have been expensive and impractical for him to drive down to help her himself. Even if he _could_ drive himself.

So Raven took a week off work, because she's a tech person who can do her job from basically anywhere with a laptop, and helped Clarke pack up her various belongings and load them into a trailer that they hitched to Raven's car. 

"And now my mom is pretending she's completely happy for me and not anxious and upset that I'm not moving back to New York instead," Clarke says, giving him a smile. Her laptop is packed in a suitcase she left in the trailer, so she's calling from her phone, blurrier than usual.

But she'll be here _tomorrow_.

"You're closer than you were in Michigan," he points out.

"Yeah, but Michigan was temporary." She wets her lips. "So, you'll be at work when we get in?"

"Sorry children need something to do over the summer."

"You should be." 

She yawns hugely, and he smiles. "Long day?"

"Nine hours is a long time. At least we're in the car, not a moving van. But still."

"Not as long tomorrow."

"No. My mom wants to buy us breakfast, so I think we'll be on the road at like ten? Get to you around two?"

"And I'll be home around three, so you guys can get all the heavy stuff without me." He wets his lips. "You good?"

"Just excited, at this point. I just want to be there already. I'm going to _live with you_ tomorrow," she adds, a little awestruck, and he swallows hard.

"That's the plan, yeah." 

This time tomorrow, they'll probably be getting ready for bed together. He'll be fighting with the futon for Raven while Clarke tries to find all the toiletries she packed. It's nothing they haven't done before, nothing he hasn't waited for with giddy anticipation, but--it's not going to _stop_. She'll keep on being there, night after night, and he still doesn't really believe it.

She smiles. "So, I'm going to get some sleep and see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. I love you," he adds. He doesn't want to stop doing that, after they start living together. He wants to still cherish all this stuff, and he really hopes he will.

"I love you too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He's expecting to sleep poorly, the way he still does before Christmas or his birthday, even though he doesn't really think of either event as that exciting anymore. He just still knows he should be nervous.

But he stays up for another hour playing video games, and that basically wears him out enough that he just falls asleep, thinking about how much nicer it'll be when he has less room in the bed.

So sleep isn't an issue, but the next day of work feels _endless_. In terms of both time and effort, club supervision usually isn't nearly as bad as real work. He mostly just hangs around and lets the kids argue with each other until their parents come to get them. Sometimes, he's asked for opinions or supplies, but they have college students doing the actual work, and he gets to read and organize his stuff. It's honestly kind of nice, and makes him feel less like he's slacking off.

But that's when he's not waiting to go help his girlfriend move in. 

It doesn't help that they actually get out of New York earlier than planned, and by one o'clock, Clarke has sent a selfie of the two of them in front of the moving van in his parking lot. Which is, of course, one of his new favorite pictures, and kind of the best.

But he feels bad for not being there.

He lets the kids go a little early, since it's Friday and summer and he wants to just be fucking _home_ already. No one minds getting out a little early on a Friday. He's doing a public service.

By the time he gets in, they've gotten everything but the furniture in to his place, and his living room is absolutely full of boxes. Whenever he's moved before, he's done it at the same time as the person he was moving in with, and it does feel a little weird, having someone else coming into his space. He's not convinced he made enough room for her, and there's this strange feeling in his stomach like that's a bad sign. Like this apartment isn't big enough for the two of them.

But Clarke sticks her head out of the bedroom, lighting up at the sight of him. Her braid is loose and messy and she looks exhausted, which doesn't surprise him, but she's _here_. It's only been a few weeks since he last saw her, when she came for her interview, but it's still this weird shock every time, seeing her in person. He never quite expects it.

But he's going to start soon. He can't wait.

"Hey," he says, leaning down for a kiss. "How are you doing?"

"Already exhausted, kind of grumpy, but here, so--awesome."

"And you're expecting me to do all the heavy lifting."

"Hey," says Raven, tapping her leg. "I'm great for driving, shitty for actually moving. This is all you."

He gives her a quick hug too. "Yeah, I'd rather drag shit around than actually drive any day. And I'm cool being the muscle. Muscle works for me. Just tell me where I need to go."

Moving is one of the most oddly paced things in the world, as far as Bellamy's concerned. There's so much to _do_ , figuring out where to put things, how to arrange new and old possessions, making room, but the actual unloading part always feels a little anti-climactic. He's home for all of half an hour and the trailer is somehow just _empty_ , this shockingly small space that somehow held Clarke's entire life.

"Okay, I'm going to drop this thing off," Raven says. "I don't think you have time to have sex before I get back, but don't try, okay? If you don't finish, I don't want to find out the hard way."

Clarke glances around, assessing the living room. "Honestly I don't even know if we could find enough clear space to have sex right now."

Bellamy does the same. "That sounds like a challenge."

"I cannot emphasize how much it isn't," Raven tells him. "Take a cold shower. Unpack a picture of Clarke's mom or a bible or something. Whatever you need to do to not have sex."

"We'll figure it out somehow," says Clarke. "Just get the trailer back."

Of course, as soon as they're alone, she does pull him down for a much longer, warmer kiss than their first. It's not really the kind of kiss that's leading anywhere, but he still appreciates it.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Really, really glad all my stuff is in here."

"I'm not sure it's all going to fit, honestly. You have a lot of stuff."

"I have a normal amount of stuff. You have weirdly little stuff. So it's okay that I need more room."

"You're going to take over my entire apartment."

"I'm going to take over _our_ entire apartment," she corrects. "I'm on the lease now. So--"

He cuts her off with a kiss, laughing. "This is our apartment."

"This is our apartment," she agrees. "Let's get it unpacked."

*

They don't, actually, not all the way. They manage to get most of Clarke's clothes where they belong, and Bellamy's bedroom rearranged into what they want for _their_ bedroom, and then give up out of general exhaustion.

"We've got the whole weekend," he tells them. They got the couch cleared off so Raven can sleep on it and ordered a pizza, because Bellamy's stove is too covered in boxes for him to cook, to say nothing of how little he wants to put effort into preparing a meal. "We don't have any other roommates we're pissing off, so--fuck it. Let's eat pizza and watch Netflix until we pass out."

"It's your apartment, I'm just helping," says Raven. "But yeah, no way I'm getting off this couch until I leave tomorrow. You guys are on your own if you want to do any more shit tonight."

"We were already mostly on our own," he says. "That's really not much of a threat." He turns his head to Clarke. "Tiebreaker?"

"I don't want to ever move again."

"I'll fight you for the couch," says Raven.

"We can share. We'd both fit."

"You're going to spend your first night in your new apartment with your boyfriend, who you've been complaining about not living with for like two years, spooning with _me_?" she asks, dubious, and Clarke sighs.

"I _guess_ I could sleep with Bellamy. If he carries me."

"That's what my muscles are here for, yeah. I'll even stand up to get the pizza, since I'm the one who hasn't been driving for two days."

"My hero," says Raven, and he offers her fist for her to bump.

Clarke doesn't actually need to be carried to bed, of course, but she does practically collapse onto it when she goes, and Bellamy takes a second to just appreciate it. His girlfriend, in _their_ bed, her pillows next to his, a new nightstand already in place, if not fully stocked yet.

He settles in next to her, nosing her neck and closing his eyes when she rolls into him.

"Hey, you're here." Somehow, it feels like the only important thing he has to say to her, now. That's it.

"Yeah," she agrees. "I'm here."


End file.
